“No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.” Matthew 6:24

So many times in our services we make the distinction between God and the enemy. We preach that either we will go to heaven with Jesus or to hell. We either follow God’s perfect path or Satan’s deception. However, Jesus presents a different dichotomy here. The challenge is deciding between what our heart is set upon: Jesus or money.

One of the things that I like least about church is when politics become more influential than Jesus. If you’ve been around the church world long enough, you understand that many times churches resemble the partisan governance similar to that of democratic governance. And we all know how efficient government can be.

One of the key things that I’m trying to instruct about is that we need to be different from the world, especially in this aspect. No one person is in charge of the church (yes, including me as pastor). We are all under the direction of Christ and under the auspices of the Holy Spirit.

Anytime a church is more political than spiritual, these things are commonplace:

Marketing experts will tell you that one of the best ways to sell a product is to focus on the greeds and needs of consumers. Psychologically, we are people of convenience. If there is a product at the right price that will either bring us pleasure or reduce our suffering (discomfort), the product is going to sell. The point is that selling is easy when we understand the selfishness of the consumer.

For example, beer commercials hardly market the virtue of their product, but rather the good time that you’ll have while drinking. The moral is that having beer at a party will bring the pretty girls and companionship one desires.